Taiwan - Taipei

Many of my friends in Korea visited Taiwan before I did and hyped it as a backpacker’s paradise.  Unfortunately, I think they OVERhyped it, but it certainly didn’t detract from the amazing experience I had there. 

One aspect that my friends certainly didn’t overhype was the absolutely AMAZING food in Taiwan.  It’s as if the Taiwanese people took the best parts of Northern Chinese cuisine, took out the parts that were bad and added to the parts that were good, and then just put in a whole lot more love. I can honestly say that in my two weeks in Taiwan, I was only actually disappointed by a meal once or twice.  The rest was between above average and amazing.  Not only did this apply to well-established local restaurants, but also food vendors on the street.  In fact, one time I ate something so good that I moaned with my mouth full, “Oh my Goooood” as well as other exclamations of ecstasy.  What I was eating was from a street food vendor.  I don’t know what it was called, but it is mantou (which is basically a fluffy rice flour bun) filled with fatty pork meat, cilantro, and peanut powder.  I couldn’t believe the incredible mix of flavors that were dancing around on my tongue! 

There was also some pretty unusual food that I tried.  I had a snack food which consisted of coagulated pig’s blood and rice gelatin, topped with peanut powder and cilantro.  This came on a stick.  Something that I never really thought of before, but which was actually really good, was BBQ mushrooms.  In addition to BBQ sauce, they put a lot of spices (like cumin) on it. 

Roasted duck and goose were also EVERYWHERE in Taiwan, and it was almost always cheap or at least decently priced.  I’ve never eaten so much duck and goose in my life within a two week period.

Besides the excellent food, Taipei reminded me of Seoul in some ways.  Only in the fact that they are both very modern, cosmopolitan and international Asian cities, and have a character and atmosphere remarkably different from the other parts of their respective countries. 

Like Seoul, there are also seemed to be a never-ending list of things to do.

Another great thing about Taipei is that it is geographically close to some points of interest outside of the city.  One day, we went to a town south of Taipei called Wulai.  This area is a common place for city-dwellers to go for hiking and outdoor activities on the weekends.  There were waterfalls, hikes, ponds, and other sources of entertainment.  Plus, the town itself was attractive with an intensely blue river snaking right through the middle of it.  We spent a day here exploring, but we could have easily spent some more time there.

 As luck would have it, I was in Taipei for the nation-wide lantern festival.  Just northwest of Taipei is a small town, Pingxi, which has the most famous lantern festival in all of Taiwan.  Transportation to Pingxi was ultra-convenient and fairly smooth.  They had non-stop (in the sense that the buses didn't make any stops along the way AND in the sense that they were continuous, one right after the other) buses going directly to the festival grounds.  Before nightfall (the time when the real festivities get under way), we were able to hike a bit to a beautiful waterfall called Shifen.  Despite the slightly inclement weather, we watched thousands of giant lanterns float through the night air.  They really looked like really stars.  It was a really great experience, and the crowds and weather only detracted from it slightly.

A third trip was to Yangminshan, which is a mountain just outside of Taipei.  There was somewhat of a flower festival being held at Yangminshan, so it was a nice time to go and visit.  We had a pleasant day just walking around and following some of the shorter trails.  

Some other mini-trips were to Beitou Hot Springs in the north (though connected to Taipei by subway) and the harbor area of Tamsui.  

One of the best experiences I had for my month of travels was finding out that one of my favorite bands, The National, was playing a show on my last full night in Taipei.  I found out via their official Facebook group, and after some thought and some prodding (via texts) from Kate, I decided to go.  And, holy shit, am I glad I went.  Such an incredible show!  Their music is already really emotive, but that was made so much more evident by the intensity of their vocalist who at different points was pacing around the stage like a madman, jumping into the audience, swilling white wine.  Legendary.

My time in Taipei is one of the longest times, maybe the longest, that I've spent in one city during my travels (7 days straight).  I loved Taipei, and I could definitely see myself living there.